Rafael Nadal will not compete in the US Open, which will take place from August 26 to September 8 in New York. The 38-year-old tennis player announced his withdrawal from the New York Grand Slam on Wednesday in a statement in which he also announced that he intends to return to the Laver Cup, the annual event promoted by Swiss Roger Federer and which this year will be held from September 20 to 22 in Berlin.
“I have decided not to compete at this year’s US Open, a venue where I have incredible memories. I will miss those special, electric evening sessions at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but I don’t think I can give 100 percent this time,” said the tennis player, who recently took part in the Paris Olympics. In the French capital, his path ended when he and Carlos Alcaraz lost in the doubles against the American duo in the quarterfinals. Previously, Nadal had lost to Novak Djokovic in the second round of singles.
With the date of his return set, the Mallorcan will not be part of the Spanish team that will try to reach the final phase of the Davis Cup in Valencia from 10 to 15 September. If they manage to do so, the men captained by David Ferrer would have to face the date from 19 to 24 November, also in the city of Turia. In any case, Nadal has not been on the list of selected players since the success of 2019, when his intervention in the Caja Mágica was providential.
After falling and “closing a cycle” in Paris, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said he needed to return home to catch his breath and think about what his next move would be. And, after analysing the calendar, the game and his physical condition, Nadal has opted to rule out the US Open, a tournament he has won four times (2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019). He believes he would not be in good shape for New York, so he will postpone his return to a more friendly venue like the Laver, where Europe faces the Rest of the World in a choral format.
Nadal will close this momentous 2024 —which was supposed to be the last year of his career, as the athlete himself hinted last season— having played only one of the four majorsHe had to withdraw from the Australian Open in mid-January just before it was due to be played, due to an abdominal injury, and subsequently decided not to parade around the All England Club in London to avoid abrupt changes of surface and concentrate on the Paris Games. He was only able to play in May at Roland Garros, where he was knocked out by the German Alexander Zverev in the first round.
His record of service is thus summed up in 19 matches, distributed in seven tournaments and with a balance of 12 wins and seven losses. He signed the quarterfinals in Brisbane, the second round of the Godó, the round of 16 in Madrid, the second round of Rome, the first round of Paris, the final of Bastad and this last Olympic track, in which far from dispelling the doubts, his performance was again as discreet as in the previous appointment in the arena of Sweden, where the result made up for the deficits in the game.
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